Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

The Lady's Guide to Celestial Mechanics by Olivia Waite

32 reviews

rafacolog's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0


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queenpebbles's review

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emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Excellent narration – clear and precise. Impressive range of voices. 
Physics, embroidery, *and* F/F smut? Was this book written with me in mind? 
A still relevant topic about women and minorities in science and the constant fight to be treated equally.
I now want to read all of Lucy's translations and/or learn French to read the marquise's works. Short of that, I might actually grab the original physics texts mentioned because of this book.

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nrogers_1030's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

2.5


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broccoli_j's review

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emotional inspiring fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

„We cannot stand up in a church and make vows. But we can stand up publicly and declare that we are important together.“

This book is a love story. 
A love story between two women.
A love story between women and womanhood. 
A story about love between artists and their art, scientists and their science and about appreciation for the joy and connection that you can feel in the middle of these two!

The publishing of the book „The Lady‘s guide to celestial mechanics“ leads to a beautiful love between two very unlike women. But only in this relationship do they discover exactly what, except for Lucy’s book, connects the two of them. And even further, which of these things connect them to other women. 

If you are looking for a heartwarming book with a young scientist and a strongheaded artist, who had to find herself aber her husbands death, you will absolutely love this book. It has well written spicy scenes but also covers the mundane realities of (forbidden) relationships. It connects friendship and allyship and community in a grander aspect than just in what is written on the page! 

Especially the second half of this book will have you crying, laughing, hoping and swearing. Happy reading!


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shadereads's review against another edition

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3frenchtoast's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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analenegrace's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I purchased this for a romance book club I'm a part of and wasn't expecting to particularly enjoy it because I don't usually love historicals, although it, especially LGBTQ+ historicals, has been growing on me. But instead, I loved this book so much. It has everything I have come to appreciate from a historical romance novel, a lot of romance but also a lot of another plot that is unique and allows the characters to grow. For example, some of Cat Sebastian's books that I have read this year had that in spades!

Both Catherine and Lucy were beautiful characters that developed so well, I loved seeing their romance develop, leading their confidences and, even, their feminism to grow. Catherine especially felt so earnest in her emotions as she realized her sexuality in comparison to Lucy's early childhood knowledge of her sexuality. Their relationship felt real and honest while being beautifully written; the prose in this novel is gorgeous!

The plot itself was so engaging that although the romance was fantastic, the plot made the book for me. I personally struggle in science, so I loved that Lucy wrote the expanded translation to be for the common woman, especially with the knowledge at the time that women would not have had access to certain levels of education. I loved the twist with
Olrean being a woman and a black woman
at that! I particularly enjoyed that the book did not stray from the classism, racism, and especially misogyny of the time, with Catherine somewhat acknowledging her privilege at times, and her husband's use of his privilege as a white man in the times. It felt both realistic in that she did not fully see the issue with the colonization etc but did see it somewhat.

The side characters also added to the book so much, with each feeling fleshed out and thoughtfully created. The diversity was well-written, and I especially enjoyed Mr. Frampton and his pushing and support of Lucy
even when he could have had the fame himself.
Catherine's "Aunt",  
who turned out to have been her mother's lover, was another character I greatly enjoyed because it showcased lesbian/queer women's history and constant existence.
 

I highly recommend this book and will definitely be checking out other books by this author!

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wilybooklover's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful medium-paced

3.5


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rionstorm's review against another edition

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hopeful lighthearted slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

I was excited about this book at the start, but found it really slow going and difficult to stick with when I got into it. I loved the detail about embroidery and the celebration of traditionally feminine crafts/areas of study/pursuits, but the romance didn't feel very compelling to me.

Towards the end
the two main characters' relationship becomes very hot and cold, for reasons that, again, didn't feel very compelling, and seemed to be put in purely to have some conflict/angst
. The use of miscommunication as a plot device also didn't feel well utilised, and ended up feeling frustrating in a way that was annoying rather than gripping. There were also just So Many Academic Men that I couldn't keep track of them. 

I'm sure that this book would be extremely loved by some people, but it just wasn't for me. 

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ember_eyes_are_for_tigers's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

In comparison to the books that I’ve read in the genre since now this book was so much better. And, it wasn’t because it was a sapphic love story (although, that might have contributed to my overall enjoyment).
Of course, this isn’t without saying that the book has some pitfalls. Lucy, the main character, sometimes feels a bit bland and just a canvas for things to happen (whilst I enjoyed Catherine’s character much better and felt she was developed much more in depth), and there is a small issue with the pacing.
However, the writing is incredible. It’s lyrical and poetic in just the right points that makes the love story that much more romantic.

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